O.C. fish expert weighs in on seafood fraud

Patrick "Paddy" Glennon, a sales executive for Santa Monica Seafood, spots chef Ryan Wilson approach the seafood counter during lunch rush. Like a good salesman, Glennon jumps from his cafe seat to greet the Lawry's corporate chef, who is shopping for cioppino ingredients at the Costa Mesa fish market.

"It's my wife's birthday," the young chef tells Glennon.

Back home from his honeymoon in Japan, Wilson regales Glennon with a story about an 800-pound bluefin tuna he saw at Tokyo's famous Tsukiji Market. The former Five Crowns executive chef said the tuna was farmed, but Glennon shakes his head. A bluefin of that size is too expensive to raise sustainably, he tells Wilson.

When it comes to seafood education, Glennon can't help but preach. He's the vice president of sales at Santa Monica Seafood, but don't let the title fool you. For more than 30 years, he has caught, gutted and cooked fish. Much of his training came from intense 18-hour days working as a poissonnier, or fish cook, for top French chefs.

"I was always on the fish side of the kitchen," said Glennon, 49. "I was in France for six years, and I never touched a steak."

Starting today, the Dana Point resident will impart his seafood wisdom to wannabe chefs attending the inaugural Food University in Las Vegas. The three-day culinary event, held at Caesars Palace, is designed to transform at-home cooks from average to extraordinary. Students pay close to $2,000 to be taught by experts. Glennon is teaching a Seafood 101 class.

During an interview last week, Glennon talked about best seafood practices, his quest to stop "greenwashing" and his favorite Orange County restaurants.

Top Seafood Tips

In Las Vegas, Glennon will show 50 students how to cook two types of seafood dishes in three one-hour sessions. The hands-on demonstration will include cooking a crispy-skin seared Dorade fish and poaching a salmon.

"These are two techniques that come with a lot of lessons. If they can do that, they can do anything," he said.

He also plans to give students his top seafood tips.

No. 1: "Always work at a high temperature – above 400 degrees," he said.

Why? Fish is not as dense as steak so the high heat is needed to penetrate and cook quicker, he said.

As for cooking time, he said: "No fish should take longer than eight minutes to cook. Fish should be cooked just under medium. It is not meant to be overcooked."

'Greenwashing'

Growing up in a small town in Connecticut, Glennon wanted to be a veterinarian. But his parents didn't have the budget for that kind of education, so he wound up gutting fish off the waters of Cape Cod.

Back then, the New England teen had no idea about the environmental hazards of overfishing.

Today, he is the founder of Culinary Liberation Front, an Orange County group dedicated to supporting environmentally conscious food practices. Glennon is a stickler when it comes to checking the accuracy of menus that promote locally sourced ingredients. Oftentimes, a starter dish will be called an "heirloom salad" when it contains one heirloom tomato, he said.

That type of mislabeling is called greenwashing. In his quest to stop mislabeling, he's not afraid to pick up the phone and tell a chef that the fish he's serving is not local.

"The word 'local' is thrown around too loosely," said Glennon, a father of six.

The future

Glennon, who trained under legendary French chef Jacques Maximin, said the Food University event in Las Vegas underscores the love affair consumers are having with fresh, unprocessed foods.

"I think it is omni-important for people to learn how to cook again," he said.

Glennon said today's Orange County restaurants represent chef-driven concepts that foodies are embracing all over the country. His local favorites are Andrei's Conscious Cuisine, 118 Degrees, 370 Common, Tabu Grill, The Loft, Stonehill Tavern, LinX, Haven Gastropub and The Playground.

He also has high expectations for boutique restaurants Fig & Olive and Lark Creek Newport Beach. Both are replacing chain restaurants at Fashion Island.